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Updates from the Web

MSC Southeast's computer and Web chronicles

Sir Ken Robinson on TED.com

One of the most interesting movements in education now is the one based on the preposition that education stifles creativity. There is an increasing wealth of research supporting this idea. It is a profound issue in a world where we no longer simply consume our media, we create our media.

At the forefront of this thinking is Sir Ken Robinson. His work demonstrates this idea and warns of a future we cannot foresee - one in which our children have grown up lacking our culture (and our species) forward. You can see his talk from 2006 outlining these ideas by visiting TED.com. It is free, fascinating, and very entertaining to watch.

Finally. PDF editing software - for free!

People stop by my office all the time - have for years - wanting to edit PDFs. Without having to shell out several hundred dolloars ($300 at last count), for the full Adobe Acrobat software, there was really no way to do this. Worse, even if you had the software, simple tasks such as filling out forms was still a pain.

Enter PDF-XChange Viewer from Tracker Software Products. This light, easy to use, and free software does exactly what you've always wanted to do to a PDF. Better, it allows you do make edits and add text in a way that makes sense. It is at once easy to use and powerful.

If you want to upgrade to the full version, you only have to shell out $34.50 - less if you buy more than 2 licenses at a time.

I rarely recommend software, but in this case, it fulfills a need I see all the time... in that chair... right there.

Please Rob Me... of my sanity

I love blogging, and I am not just saying that because this is a blog. I like the concept. It is great that people can voice their feelings, opinions, and occasional expertise online - with minimal effort.

Twitter is another matter. Why someone would wish to post random thoughts as they go about their day is beyond me. I understand the interest in celebrities (my hero, Neil deGrasse Tyson tweets), but it is not for the majority of us - without agents or interns.

Here is why it is a bad idea - no edit mode. It is too easy to post just anything that comes to mind without giving it some thought. There have been cases of people losing their jobs over bad tweets, and people have even divorced their spouse over Twitter. It is not a good thing.

Witness Please Rob Me. This Web site posts a listing of people giving their location – and they are not home. Why is this a bad idea? As the site explains,

"The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you're definitely not... home." (http://pleaserobme.com/why)

Do not think that you have to be a technical guru to find this information. It only takes a simple search on Twitter to come up with this information.

Fortunately, sites like Please Rob Me are raising this kind of awareness.

"…The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information."(http://pleaserobme.com/why)

Do yourself a favor and do not follow in the blind footsteps of these people. Tweet, if you must. Tell us too much if you will, but do not tell us you are not at home. You have trees. We have toilet paper – and lots of it.

Minnesota State College Southeast is an affirmative action/equal opportunity educator and employer. ADA accessible. MSC Southeast is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment and education opportunity. No person shall be discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment, personnel practices, or access to and participation in, programs, services, and activities with regard to race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, or sexual orientation. In addition, discrimination in employment base on membership or activity in a local commission as defined by law is prohibited.

Minnesota State College SoutheastA member of Minnesota State

Minnesota State College SoutheastA member of Minnesota State

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